The Inspector-General - Nikolai Gogol

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wife.

       AMMOS FYODOROVICH, a Judge.

       ARTEMI PHILIPPOVICH, Charity Commissioner and Warden of the Hospital.

       IVAN KUZMICH, a Postmaster.

       IVAN ALEXANDROVICH[1] KHLESTAKOV, a St. Petersburg chinovnik (official).

       OSIP, his servant.

       DOBCHINSKI, [ independent

       BOBCHINSKI, [ gentlemen.

       HUBNER, a District Doctor.

       LYULYUKOV, [

       RASTAKOVSKI, [-ex-officials.

       KAROBKIN, [

       UKHAVYORTOV, a Police Superintendent. (Chastni Prisiav, or Police-Commissary.)

       SVISTUNOV [

       PUGOVKIN [ Police-Officers. (Kvartalniye, or Ward-Inspectors)

       DERZHIMORDA [

       ABDULIN, a merchant.

       Lock-smith's Wife.

       Sergeant's Wife.

       MISHKA, servant of the Governor.

       Waiter at the inn.

       Gentlemen and ladies, guests, merchants, citizens, and petitioners.

      In order to simplify for English readers the somewhat formidable cast, the surnames of the first eight characters are omitted, as they would not be used in familiar intercourse. Khlestakov's name is, however, retained in full. The surnames only of the rest, who are of lower social standing, are given. (Osip and Mishka are nicknames.) The full names of nearly all the characters occur either in the text or the notes.

       Table of Contents

      THE GOVERNOR. A man who has grown old in the State service in his own opinion, a smart official. He wears an air of dignified respectability, but is by no means incorruptible. He speaks to the point, generally avoiding extremes, but sometimes launching into an argument. His features are harsh and stern, like those of a chinovnik who has worked his way up from the lowest rank. His coarse and ill-educated nature causes him to pass with rapidity from fear to joy, and from servility to arrogance. He is dressed in uniform with loops and facings, and wears Hessian boots with spurs.

      ANNA ANDREYEVNA. His wife, still tolerably young, and a provincial coquette, brought up on novels and albums and household trivialities. She is very inquisitive, and displays now and then a vain disposition. Henpecks and ridicules her husband to a certain extent on minor points, when she can get the best of him in argument. Changes her dress four times in the course of the piece.

      KHLESTAKOV. A young man, about twenty-three years old, mean and insignificant to look at. Not overburdened with common-sense, being, as they say, "without a tsar in his head." He would be designated as "very frivolous" in the Government offices. Speaks and acts without reflection, and lacks concentration. His style of address is abrupt, and his remarks are totally unexpected. (The actor should sustain this role with the greatest possible naivete.) Dresses in the latest fashion.

      BOBCHINSKI and DOBCHINSKl are short, fat, inquisitive, and remarkably like each other. They both wear short waist- coats, and speak rapidly, with an excessive amount of gesticulation. Dobchinski is the taller and steadier, Bobchinski the more free-and-easy, of the pair.

      LYAPKIN-TYAPKIN, the Judge. Has read five or six books, and so is somewhat of a freethinker. He is very fond of philosophic speculation, carefully weighing each word. (The player should be careful to preserve a judicial and consequential style.) Speaks with a bass voice and a prolonged drawl, clearing his throat beforehand, like an old-fashioned clock, which buzzes before it strikes.

      ZEMLYANIKA, the Charity Commissioner, is very fat, slow, and awkward; nevertheless an intriguing rascal, most obliging and officious.

      The POSTMASTER is an artless simpleton.

      The other characters require no special explanation, as their prototypes can be met almost anywhere.

      The company should pay especial attention to the final scene. The last word uttered must strike them like an electric shock, suddenly and simultaneously, and the whole group should fall into position at the same instant. The ladies must all ejaculate the cry of astonishment, as if it proceeded from a single throat. The neglect of these directions will ruin the whole effect.

      Footnotes

       Table of Contents

      1 ↑ The second of the three names which Russians possess is the Otchestvo, or patronymic. It is formed by adding to the father's Christian name ovich or evich (sometimes contracted into ich) for men, and ovna or evna for women.

      2 ↑ By Gogol.

      3 ↑ Colloquial form of Yosiph "Joe."

      "Don't blame the looking-glass when your own face is at fault." This Russian proverb was appropriately chosen by Gogol as a motto for his famous comedy. The Inspector-General is a faithful reflex of the seamy side of provincial life in Russia, and a typical set of droll but dubious characters live again in its pages. The play is indeed a mirror, and a not too flattering one, to the more shady section of Muscovite society. Apart, however, from the general tone of satire, which would be more keenly appreciated by its victims, there is in the Revizór so much rough-and-ready wit, and such a series of humorous situations, that the comedy appeals also to non-Russian readers. As to plot, there is scarcely any. The central incident of the piece is the arrival of a supposed "revizór" in a country town somewhere in the south of Russia. This functionary has no exact English analogue, but he may be defined as an inspector commissioned by the Government, with unlimited powers to inquire into the abuses of provincial administration. It is needless to say that such a petty autocrat would be about the last person desired as a visitor by the local chinovniks whom Gogol depicts. They are certainly a collection of black sheep, and the approach of this much-dreaded official does not add to their peace of mind. After years of undisturbed jobbery and plunder, they are rudely confronted with the prospect of administrative exile to Siberia. It appears that the Town-Governor has regularly blackmailed the merchants, who in their turn have recouped themselves out of Government contracts. The Judge is more distinguished as a Nimrod than as a Solomon; he has turned the court-house into a kennel, and done a roaring traffic in bribes. Artemi Philippovich, the Warden of the Hospital has left the patients to be cured by "nature " and the ministrations of an inarticulate foreigner, who is innocent of any knowledge of Russian. Of the others, Luka Lukich, Director of Educational Establishments, to give him his full style and title, is, if possible, more incapable than his subordinates. The Postmaster Shpyokin's weak point is his taste for opening and reading other people's letters; while the Police-Officers are generally too drunk to be employed on duty. Such is the model community, for which the imaginary inspector's escapades have a tragic result.

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